THE WOES OF THE SISTER
by Beloviel
Summary: What if Bruce Wayne had a little sister? What if, when it came to her, he made a lot of bad decisions? This is the story of Sapheara E Wayne and her long, heart breaking and heart warming story from sad orphan to the powerful figure known as Batwoman.
1. Chapter1: Remembering

_I found him!_

_I can't believe it, I've finally found him!_ I imagine reaching out and touching his face just to make sure he's real. But I can't.

I can't move. I'm trapped in my own body, a prisoner in my own mind. I suppose I should explain from the beginning, but I'm warning you, it's a bit of a long story and doesn't yet have a happy ending. Alfred told me the story many times until I could finally just repeat it to myself. It all began long ago on October 3rd, when I was born...

* * *

Alfred Pennyworth stood nervously outside the doors to the East Wing of Wayne Manor, seven year old Bruce Wayne pacing nervously in front of him.

"I can't wait Alfred! He'll be here any minute! My very own little brother!" Bruce exclaimed with an eager smile, "I wonder what they'll name him, maybe Thomas or Joshua! I'll have a little brother to run and play with in less then an hour!"

Alfred smiles and pats Bruce's head, "Now Master Bruce, we don't know if it's a boy yet and you'll have to wait a bit before you can do all that with your sibling." On the outside his face is calm and resolute but on the inside Alfred was terrified. Just a few months earlier it was discovered that the baby was an Ectopic pregnancy and could kill both the mother and child. Despite this discovery, Martha Wayne refused to get an abortion. In her heart she believed that she and the baby would be fine. But now she was in labor and from what he'd heard from the nurse, things weren't going well.

"Fine, I guess it would be okay if it was a girl." Bruce finally concluded and Alfred was about to express his approval when the door opened and the nurse walked through.

For a moment she left them in complete suspense while they waited to hear what had happened, then the woman's face broke out in a smile as she put her hand on Bruce's shoulder, "Are you ready to meet the newest addition to the family?" When he nodded excitedly she opened the door, "Go on then."

As soon as he had run through she turned to Alfred, "Both mother and child are fine. The babies parents would like you to come in and meet her." Alfred gave the nurse a grateful handshake then hurried through the doors and down the hallway to the end of the East Wing where the Clinic was. There he found Bruce waiting to go inside to see his sibling, apparently having last second jitters. Alfred put his hand on his shoulder gently and lead him through the door.

Inside was Martha and Thomas Wayne looking down at a bundle of blankets with grand smiles that belong only to proud parents. Bruce slowly walked over and peered into the bundle. Inside was a baby girl, her face still red and a little scrunched, already with tufts of jet black hair on her tiny head. Slowly her eyes opened to reveal the oddest shade of blue any had ever seen, in fact they looked... violet.

"The doctor says it's just a genetic mutation. But they're beautiful." Martha said in hushed tones.

"Correction, Martha. She's beautiful." Thomas whispered proudly.

At first Bruce just stared at her silently then slowly his mouth curled in a smile and he reached forward to softly stroke her hair, "What's her name?"

"Sapheara Euphemianna Wayne." Martha gave her husband a sweet little kiss on the nose.

Bruce laughs a little, "What a mouthful!" He seems to get lost in her violet eyes then says quietly, "Sapheara..."

* * *

"_Sapheara?"_ My mouth longs to cry out yes! Yes, it's me! Bruce looks me in the eyes and shakes my shoulders, "Sapheara, look at me! What are you doing here?"

I simply look ahead and say nothing, my stare is blank but I can see him clearly. His blue eyes, and black hair, so much like what our father had looked like in the pictures. He has a bit of a beard now and is all bundled up from the freezing air outside of our cozy but oh so dangerous academy. A small blue flower is in his pocket. _No! _I want to yell, _don't let him trick you into using the flower._ "Sapheara, please answer me!"

"She will not speak, unless I tell her to." Says a smooth but chilling voice from behind. Henri Ducard. Ducard walks toward me and gently brushes my hair, "She's his best student. A superb fighter, so silent a rabbit couldn't hear her if she was an inch behind it and she strikes faster then a cheetah. She's also very loyal."

"And she's my sister! What is she doing here?!" Bruce begins to get angry at Ducard and I almost feel bad, Ducard has always been kind to me. He even seemed sad when I began to lose grasp of myself.

"We found her as we found you. Though she wasn't in a jail, instead she was in a lot of trouble with gang leaders in China. She boxed a little too well from what I heard. She told us her story of woe. Her story of how she had set off at 15 years old to find her older brother and bring him home." Ducard was circling me with an odd hint of pride in his voice, "Sapheara made it until she was 17 on her own, traveling the world. We rescued her, and since then we've trained her. She's a survivor ."

Bruce seemed awestruck at the story, having not even known that for 5 years I had been a Missing Child.

"Come along Bruce, Raz al Ghul will see you now..." As they walk away and his voice fades my mind too begins to go back to how I got here...

* * *

Three years had passed peacefully since my birth, with a few bumps in the road, such as Bruce and I falling down an old well and nearly being scared to death by bats. I swear Rachel Dawes blames herself for that to this day. My jet black hair had not been cut once since the day I'd been born and was now in shiny waves to the middle of my back.

I was on my mothers lap staring at a now ten year old Bruce, as we rode on the train on our way to the opera. Bruce and my dad were in tuxes while my mother was in a beautiful black dress with a fur wrap. I myself had been wearing a black unitard with a fluffy white tutu and my hair up in a braided bun. I barely listened to my families conversation as I entertained myself with the pearls hanging from my mothers neck. Bruce smiled at me often on that trip. I wish that I had known those would be the last true smiles on my brothers face for a long time.

Bruce had always been proud of me from the second I was born. He bragged to Rachel about how my first word was Bruce and he often doted upon me with dandelions and cool rocks he would find. My three year old self could not have known that my brothers gifts would no longer be a simple and heartfelt action but from that night on would be used only as an apology.

Watching that Opera was terrifying. I don't even remember the name of it. I just kept watching those bat looking things and getting more and more scared. I was about to start crying when suddenly my dad picked my up and our entire family left the theatre.

We went out the back and as my father told my mother he simply needed some air he handed my to Bruce, who held me close as if to calm himself down.

Everything after that becomes a blur. I remember a man... Then loud noises, banging sounds... Looking down at my white tutu to find it not had red spots on it and Bruce holding me tighter then ever and sobbing so loud I thought my heart would rip open.

Many police officers tried to pry me out of Bruce's arms but he screamed at anyone who tried to take me from him. He held me in one of the offices while a police officer with a mustache put our dads coat over Bruce's shoulder. He said his name was Gordon. I remember a little dent appeared on my forehead as I scrunched my face in confusion and asked, "Bruce, why you wearin' daddy's coat?"

This turned Gordons stare to me, "This must be your little sister. Sapheara, right?" Bruce nodded slowly and buried his face in my hair, which suddenly felt wet. It took me years to realize it was from his tears.

Gordon went over to a desk, pulled something out then walked over to me, "Here you go, sweetheart." He says kindly as he puts my mothers string of pearls around my neck. I touched them softly, not knowing then the beautiful kindness that was behind this simple act.

"Gordon, what're you doing? Those are evidence, the investigators are only going to take those from her." Gripes the police captain.

"If anyone tries, send them to me. I'd like to see them try to take the last piece this little girl has of her mother." Gordon says sternly.

Alfred came to pick us up then, he carried me while Bruce walked behind. That moment is the one I remember most of that night. I watched as my brother lost his childhood and I lost my brother...

* * *

"She beats you again, Bruce, you must stop thinking of her as your little sister." Ducard says from the sidelines as Bruce stands on the ice once more as I get back into defensive position. Ducard had pitted me against Bruce four times now and each time I had brought him to the ground with his sword ending up about ten feet away.

"I can't, she _is_ my little sister!" Bruce picks up his sword once more and approaches me. He raises the sword and I raise mine.

"Wrong, Bruce. She isn't. She hasn't been for over 5 years now. You had a choice at one time, and you made the one that meant she would no longer be your sister."

"I had to though, and she didn't need me! She had Alfred, that doesn't make her no longer mine."

"But she isn't!" Ducard insisted, "Sapheara belongs to only Raz now."

We begin our fight and I beat him once more, and while I stood over Bruce, my sword against his throat Ducard called out, "Speak your mind, Sapheara."

There was so much I wanted to say, so many emotions but in that moment all I felt was anger. So I spat out the only words I could, "You left me." And with that I dropped the sword and walked away. Ducard took up my sword and fought the shocked Bruce, insulting him and my father, which ended with Bruce falling through the ice.

While Bruce warmed himself by the fire I stood on the ice once more, looking up at the stars. Its cold out tonight, kind of like the night the cold sunk through my skin and wrapped itself around my heart...

* * *

It was more then a decade after my parents died and I was thirteen years old. My hair had been my fathers pride and joy and he used to swear that he'd never let me cut it, so I had never cut it and I had to keep it in a braid so it didn't drag on the ground. That day was one I wasn't about to forget.

I looked in the mirror, my hair is pulled up in a crown of braids which then falls gracefully half way down my back. I was wearing a nice red blouse with a navy blue blazer over it and a denim pencil skirt. I then race downstairs and look out the window, "Is he here yet?" I ask Alfred, who was still eating his breakfast at the kitchen counter.

Alfred chuckles, "If he were here, you would know already."

"I know, but I'm so excited!" I sit next to him and rest my chin on my hands, "You know he only comes home from school once a year and that's for my birthday. I miss him."

"I know, Sapheara, but today's different and it's going to be hard for him."

"I know Alfred, we're trying my parent's murderer today too." I sighed, my heart already felt heavy. I glancde out the window and see a taxi pulling into the drive way, "Bruce is here!" I yelped and scrambled to the door which I throw open and run outside, "Bruce!"

Bruce gets out of the taxi, picks me up and twirls me around, "I've missed you too, Sapheara!" He hugs me tight and I can't help but grin like a mad woman.

We sit down in the kitchen and catch up a bit then after a couple hours we have to head to the trial. When Bruce left the room they called me up instead and I had to explain to them that I couldn't remember any of that night.

Rachel came and picked me up and we waited in the car for the trial to end, suddenly I started to cry, "Rachel, he's going to get off and it's going to be my fault." Rachel turns and looks at me with a shocked look.

"What the H**** did you just say?" Now it's my turn to look shocked.

"W-Well, they called me up to testify and I had to tell them I didn't remember anything and now Chill is going to get away with murder."

"Sapheara, Chill," She sighs, "Chill may get off but it will not be your fault, they knew you were too small to remember any of it, they just called you up to make a point. You cannot be blamed whatsoever." She kissed my foerhead and went to go get Bruce.

I laid down in the backseat and pretended to be asleep. I heard as they discussed how Chill had been shot and peeked my eye open when Bruce pulled out the gun. I almost threw up when I saw it in his hand, and for a moment I believed he could have done it. I heard Rachel slap him then drop him off somewhere.

"Take her home, and tell her I love her very much." I heard him whisper before he got out of the car. Love me? What?! Bruce hadn't said those words since before mom and dad died. Then it hit me, he was leaving and he wasn't planning on coming back.

I bolt up from my seat and Rachel gasped, "How long were you awake?!"

"Who cares, let me out!" But she was pulling away already. I banged my fist against the back window shield, "BRUCE PLEASE DON'T GO!" I screamed and sobbed at the same time but he was already inside and we were too far.

Rachel drove me home and before I got out she turned to me, crying herself, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

I look at her, my hair messed up and eyes bloodshot, "I hate you." I snarl, "You let him leave me." Just before slamming the door shut I heard her begin to sob but I run inside anyway. _Please be home, please be home, please be home! _"BRUCE!" I scream, "Bruce, please!" Alfred appears with a worried face.

"Ms. Sapheara, what's wrong?"

I start weeping again, "Leave me alone!" I yell at him and run upstairs to my room. I change into jeans, a sweatshirt and a pair of converse. I lock the door and wait for hours staring at the mirror. An entire day passes, with Alfred and Rachel knocking at the door to try and get me to come out. Rachel threatened to knock the door down but never did. Finally around midnight these thoughts started running through my head. I have to find him, I have to bring him home. I need him, he needs me. I grab a duffle bag from my closet and pack it with clothes, a stack of cash and a pair of scissors. I make a rope from my bed sheets and hang it out the window. I place my mothers pearls on the bed for Alfred to find. Looking one last time in the mirror I grab one of the rocks Bruce gave me when I was three and shatter it. I take a piece and climb down the make-shift rope.

At this point it had started to rain and I had one last place to stop. I ran to my parents grave and knelt between the two headstones. As the rain soaked me to the bone I made a promise to my parents, "I promise I'm going to bring him home." I grabbed my long black hair in one hand and in one sweep sliced it off with the mirror shard. Then with the scissors I cute my hair to a pixie cut. I laid the hair and the mirror shard down between my parents graves and with a shaking voice said, "I promise."

Those first few hours were grueling. I made it to Gotham but got lost and ended up in a bad part of town. I put my hood up and tried to look more like a guy.

I was about to pass an alley way with a burnt building beside it when I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Hey." I jumped and tried to hit what I thought was an attacker. But when I turned around I found a boy around my age with short black hair spiked up in the front, he was cute I guess, in a I'm-not-gonna-kill-you way. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you." He was wearing a jacket and jeans and standing in the middle of the rain, but I suppose I was doing that too so I couldn't judge.

"That sounds like something a killer would say." I stammer slightly as I was really cold.

The boy laughed and seemed to noticed I was cold, he pulled of his jacket and handed it to me. Normally I wouldn't have taken it but I was so cold all common sense had left me and I slipped it on, it was still warm from the boy, "You look like your running from something." He pointed out, then nodded at the bag, "You got food in there for the journey?"

I shook my head and he smiles, "Wait there, okay?" He disappeared into the house beside the burnt down one then reappeared with a bag full of peanut butter, bread, crackers and what appeared to be a misshapen carrot. He handed it to me, and said with a smile that only a trouble maker can pull off, "My name's John Blake, you don't have to tell me yours if you don't want to."

I couldn't help it, I had to hug him. So I did. While I was hugging him he whispered to me, "I hope you escape what your running from." I whisper back, "It's not what I'm running from, more like what I'm running to." before I pull away I kiss his cheek, "Thank you." I whisper to him then run away.

From there I went to the train station, then the airport then wherever the latest rumor about Bruce was. Until finally the League of Shadows found me and took me in. They told me to breath in the blue flower to absorb my fears, what they didn't say is that over so many uses it dulls the users sense of agency and they become nothing more then a puppet.

* * *

"It's time Bruce." I heard Ducard tell my brother.

"What did he do?" Bruce asked about the man in the cage who he was told he had to kill.

After Ducard told him Bruce nodded and came over to talk to me. He took my black mask off and looked me in the eyes, "I'm sorry I left you, Sapheara. But before I do this, I need to hear you speak to me. PLEASE! I'm your brother, Bruce."

I stared blankly ahead and he kissed my forehead then went to kill the man. _Bruce_. I think to myself, _say his name!_ My mouth tweaks slightly and I feel hope again._ Bruce. Bruce! BRUCE! _"Bruce." I whisper. And then I whisper it again and again, unable to believe that I had done something that someone didn't have to tell me to do first. Bruce raised the sword and was about to bring it down when I screamed, "BRUCE NO!" Bruce dropped the sword and started fighting others around him.

Ducard twirled around to face me, "You stupid girl, whether you or your brother leads the army, Gotham will be destroyed!" He smacks me across the head with the butt of his sword and everything goes black.

* * *

When I wake up the first thing I'm aware of is the throbbing in my head. I raise my hand and press to press it against my head then freeze. _I raised my hand!_ I stare at it like I'm stupid and laugh aloud, then cover my mouth._ I laughed! _I had control over my body again! I laughed and cried a little.

I sat up and looked around, I was in a plane. A really nice plane. I had been sleeping on a bed and had a gauze wrap over my forehead. I stand up and stumble. Putting my hand on the wall to steady myself I walk through the cabin but no ones there. I head back to the room I woke up in and found Bruce, sleeping in a recliner by the bed. I must have walked right past him. And he must have been watching me sleep.

"Bruce?" I say quietly, and he bolts awake, a smile breaks out on his face and he wraps me in his arms. "I found you." I start to sob uncontrollably.

"Sapheara." He whispers, "I've missed you so much."

I pull away, "What happened? The League of Shadows?" I sit on the bed and he sits back on the recliner.

"Gone, destroyed, burnt to the ground." He strokes my arm where a burn mark was, "I had to carry you out but I wasn't fast enough before you got hurt."

"I can't even feel it." I say reassuringly, "And Ducard?" I ask.

"He's safe with a doctor back in the mountains, he won't bother us again."

I smile, "I have so many stories to tell you."

"And I have many to tell you as well."

All of a sudden I yawn, "Actually Bruce, I'm exhausted, can I go back to sleep?"

"Of coarse, Sapheara, when you wake up we'll be there."

"Where?" I ask curiously.

"Home."

I feel warm when he says that then flop back onto the bed and groan, "Ah man, Alfred's gonna kill me."

**End of Chapter One :) I will get chapter two up as soon as possible :)**


	2. Chapter2: Normal Life As A Crime Fighter

We caught a connecting flight in England to get to Gotham and when we got on the jet I wasn't surprised to find Alfred sitting there waiting for us. Of coarse he greeted Bruce with a great excitement and happiness but when he caught sight of me... Well, I knew I was in for a long lecture.

And boy did I get it. After he finished telling me about how he thought I was dead for the last seven years he teared up and opened his arms wide, which I quickly fell into and told him that I'd missed him too. He and Bruce talked about how he had to become more then a man, he had to become a symbol. I just watched, my initial joy at being with Bruce had worn off and now... All I felt was the abandonment that came with being left behind.

Bruce and Alfred were still in deep conversation when I blurted out the word that had been on my tongue for the past seven years, "Why?"

Bruce's sentence sputtered to a stop, "What? Why what?"

Alfred watched nervously from his seat, looking from me to Bruce, "Ms. Sapheara, maybe this isn't the best time, you and Master Bruce have just been reunited-"

"No. I need to know. I want to know why you only ever came home on my birthday, _one_ day a year. I want to know why you could never look me in the eyes and I _need_ to know why you abandoned me."

Bruce watched me closely then sighed, "Your just tired and need some rest-"

"Some rest?!" I stand up and yell, "Bruce, I have been stuck in my own head for almost five years and all I've had to think about is why? Why? Why?! WHY?!" I storm into one of the cabins and shut the door. I sit on my bed and for once in the past decade I have a temper tantrum. Which is really quite silly seeing as I am twenty years old and should really be over that kind of thing.

I pull at my hair and grit my teeth, hating the feeling that was boiling in my chest. I turn to kick something and instead find myself looking in a mirror.

I freeze... I haven't looked in a mirror since I was thirteen years old. I take a step closer, could that really be me? I touch my cheek softly, what had once been chubby with baby fat was now smooth and graceful looking. My eyebrows were arched now and I had an elfish nose. My lips, when had they gotten so much like my mothers had been?

I took comfort in the fact that my ears still stuck out a little too much. My hair had grown to my shoulders, which I already knew since I had cut it several times since that night in front of my parents grave. When I was thirteen I was thin and wiry but now my arms had some muscle to them and my torso was shaped like an hour glass. When did all of this happen? I wasn't a little girl anymore. In fact I was a woman.

This realization hit me like a two by four. I flop down on the bed, curl up in a ball and just cry softly. I had missed my teenage years, high school, friends and boys. Instead my years had been filled with training, training and more training.

An hour passes and I'm still curled in a ball when I hear the door open and close.

"You reminded me of them." I hear Bruce say as he sits on the edge of the bed.

I sniffle, "What?"

"About a week after the funeral, everything you did began to remind me of our parents. Your hair, the shape of your eyes and even the way you ate your breakfast. I couldn't stand being around you because it hurt too much. I couldn't take the responsibility so I left you with Alfred because I knew he would be able to take care of you, better then I ever could have."

I sit up, "Bruce, you talk about taking on the responsibility of the safety of an entire city but you couldn't even handle the responsibility of me."

"I was a kid who didn't know what he was doing, I blew my chance to continue being your big brother. I had a shot, and I couldn't do it. You know as well as I do I won't get another chance to take care of you again. But I've changed over the years, and I have a chance to save Gotham, and I don't intend on screwing this up the way I did with you. Saving Gotham, well, not only is it my duty but it's my way of making up for not saving you."

"Bruce, if you wanna save Gotham... I'm in. It's my home too, and they're my people as well." I can't help but think of that boy, it's been years but I remember his name to this day. John Blake, if he's still in Gotham then there must be other people like him, people who have a heart and care about one another. Bruce, well, he's doing it for our parents. But me, I'm doing it for the good I know is in the people of Gotham. "But Bruce, everything I've missed out on, all the heartbreak I've endured, I'm still trying to sort it all out and I need... time to figure out how to approach the whole, forgiving thing."

"How about, we call it a rain check?" Bruce says with a timid smile.

"Sure thing but Bruce?"

"Yeah?"

"If we're going to save the city by going above the law," I flash him a smile, "I'm going to have to teach you some moves."

* * *

The mansion was just as old and big as it always was. Alfred walks me to my room and I sit on a bed I haven't seen in seven years.

"I had the mirror replaced." Alfred says from the door way, "And your mothers pearls are in the safe behind the dresser. I've had your closet filled with clothes your size in every fashion I could think of." He smiles warmly, "I had everything ready, in case you ever decided to come back."

"I really scared you, didn't I?" I ask, guilt clear in my voice.

"Out of my wits." Alfred says with a sad grimace, "I would have taken care of you, you weren't alone."

I look at my hands, "I had a promise to keep. I had a brother to bring home."

"But you haven't forgiven him, for leaving?"

"I can't do it. In all my years of training, I was taught never to apologize, to never forgive, and to never forget." I sigh, "It's too engraved in my bones for me to just ignore all that... for now at least, I'll have to simply tolerate my feelings of anger."

Alfred walks over to puts a hand on my shoulder, "Twenty years ago, I held you in my arms for the first time, it's hard to believe that my sweet flower picking, cookie stealing little girl is gone. But at least I can proudly say she was replaced by a strong, intelligent, and beautiful woman. Your parents would be proud."

I smile sadly, "Not yet, I haven't done what needs to be done yet." I stand up and walk over to the closet, "You said any style you could think of right?"

"Yes, are you going somewhere ?"

I grin mischievously, "Yeah, the world hasn't seen young Sapheara Wayne in seven years. I figure I should fix that."

* * *

An hour later, after picking out a style that suits me and getting a hair cut that wasn't cut by either a 13 year old girl or some random ninja who didn't know that scissors were meant to cut more then just throats, I was out on the streets of Gotham. My hair fell in ringlets now, where as before it had been jagged and not very well cut. I was wearing pastel pink high rise shorts, a black Beatles baby tee, and a white leather jacket with studs on the arms. Oh, and a pair of black converse.

I often found myself looking down at my legs, I usually had them covered by pants and armor but know I just felt uncomfortable. Looking around I see lots of girls in even shorter shorts but I just can't calm my jitters.

Everything feels new again, I never thought when I was thirteen years old that one day I would have missed the smell of a hot dog stand... I hate hot dogs but I found myself eating one like it was the last bit of food I would ever get.

I was about to head to the police office when my phone rang. I actually jumped for a second because I thought the beeping was a grenade. Yeah, not my proudest moment. I pick up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey it's Bruce, your not going to believe what I found beneath the house."

"Bruce, what you found, it's called a basement, lots of houses have them." I say teasingly.

"Haha, very funny. Just get back to the house."

I gawk at the phone, "I just got out here, I was going to go to the Police Office."

"Your city exploring can wait and what were you going to do at the Police Station?"

"Easy for you to say you already snuck out to spy on Rachel." I hiss into the phone, "And I was going to try and find someone right after I turned you in for being an idiot."

"Jokes on you, I'm actually a genius."

"Then why can't you figure out a way to beat me at fighting?" I snap then shake my head, "I'll be at the house in twenty minutes." And I hang up. Why do I even bother with this guy... oh yeah, cause he's my brother.

* * *

I had barely pulled into the drive way when Bruce had pulled me away to the well he and I had fell down as children, "Bruce, I don't wanna go down there."

But he was already climbing down a rope he'd placed, "O c'mon, you scared?"

Okay, maybe it's stupid but that really bruised my pride, "I am not." I hiss and shimmy down the rope.

When I hit the ground, Bruce laughs, "Oh that's right, I forgot, your not afraid of anything."

"I never said that." I say with a strategically placed punch in the stomach, "I'm afraid of lots of things." I watch as he starts to crawl through a small tunnel and sigh, "Of coarse." Suddenly a swarm(?) of bats flew out of the cavern and I screech. They quickly disperse and I stand there with my hands shaking. "L-l-like bats."

Bruce gives me a sympathetic glance and my face instantly hardens, I don't want his pity so even though my bones are shaking inside of me I get down on all fours and crawl through the tunnel.

It seems like complete blackness for as far as the eye can see, then the tunnel opens out into an enormous cave, "No way." I whisper.

Bruce chuckles, "I told you that you wouldn't believe it."

"Wow." Is all I manage to say as I stand up and look around, Bruce had already set up a few lights but that was pretty much all the light we had. Bruce hands me a glow stick and I crack it, then hold it up so I can see.

"It's beautiful." I whisper, looking at the jutting rocks that glistened from the dripping water and the water fall at the far end. Bits of the manors foundations could be seen in the corner. I point out a small dent in the cave, "That area over there, is mine. You don't touch it and you keep your nose out of my beeswax."

Bruce rolls his eyes, "We've been down here a total of two minutes and your already staking claims."

"Speaking of staking claims, Bruce, how long before you and I discuss our plan for saving Wayne Enterprises? If and when we do, how are we planning on splitting it?"

"Uh," Bruce suddenly looked very busy examining one of the spotlights he had set up, "Hey you never told me who you were looking for at the Police Station. I'm already keeping tabs on Gordon, you know."

"Don't think I didn't notice you changing the subject." I say pointedly then decide to let it drop, "Just someone who helped me out, a long time ago. I was hoping I could find some leads on him."

"What's his name?" Bruce asks, not really paying attention.

"Forget it, he's probably dead." I mutter then look around, "I think it's time we meet with our councilmen and check in on the family company."

"What's the rush?"

"Well, this place needs some work and we need some armor." I laugh to myself, "And we're going to need money."

* * *

Bruce stared at me as we walked out of the meeting and were being sent down to the basement to check out some prototypes.

"What?!" I finally exclaim, throwing my hands in the air."

"I told you to wear something business like."

I give him a disgruntled glare, "Bruce, I'm going to wear what I darn well please, so thank you for your input but shut up."

"And did you really have give death stares the whole time?"

"Uh, yeah. Did you _see_ the way he was looking at me?" I shivered, "It was creeping me out."

Bruce simply shakes his head as we exit the elevator into the basement.

"Hello , ." Lucius Fox says with a warm smile, extending his hand. After Bruce shakes it, I reach forward and also shake his hand.

I turn a bit deaf as they speak about technicalities and the such. But when Lucius says he knew my father my head snaps up, "Really?"

He looks at me with a smile, "Why, yes. And you wouldn't believe how much he spoke of you and your brother."

I nod. It's not really groundbreaking news to me.

He shows Bruce a piece of armor for military, I raise my hand slowly, "Uh, does that come in women's?"

"Actually, no. It was only a prototype and was only made in men's sizes." He explains.

I sigh, "Is there anyway I can get my hands on one?"

"I never really pictured you as a spelunking type of woman."

I flash a mischievous grin, "Don't worry, no one can really peg me correctly."

"Well, I can have someone custom fit you-"

"Uh, actually, could I do that myself and just send you the sizes."

"Of coarse ." He says with a nod.

"Oh and Lucius?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Can I get it in black?"

* * *

I hold up the armor, "Bruce!" I call with a grin, "Check this out!"

He walks over to my corner of the batcave, "Nice. Hows it fit?"

"Not sure yet, but we'll find out in a couple hours." I say examining my silver belt and the plans for my cowl.

"Your sure you want to come?"

"We need to know how to bring Falcone down, Bruce."

"I know but I just don't know about you-"

I swing around kick his chest, pushing him to the ground. I press my knee on his chest, pinning him to the ground, "Let me make something very clear to you Bruce. You and I, we aren't doing so well at this brother and sister crud. But we make a heck of a partnership. That's all I want, nothing more and nothing _less_. You may not want my help but like it or not you just might need it. So stop trying to protecting me and start trying to trust me." I stand up and give him a hand up.

"You know I could have stopped you."

I scoff, "I would have liked to see you try."

* * *

I almost feel bad for Gordon, what with Bruce pretending to press a gun to his head. I let Bruce do the initial talking, letting Gordon believe he was the only one there.

"We appreciate your help." Bruce says in his raspy, frightening voice.

"We?" Gordon asks and before I slip out the window and he turns around I say trying to disguise my voice by making my voice raspy as well, "We're trying to help." and with that I'm gone.

Bruce and I had barely made it to the roof when Gordon and three police men had raced to the roof to point their guns in my voice. Bruce took the route best suited for him, easily jumped over and on top of things then eventually off the roof.

I examine my options and know I'm not tall enough for many of the climbs. I run over to a shed on the roof and kick off of an old crate and flip onto the roof of the shed then onto a higher level of the roof top. I run across then jump off the edge, squeezing my eyes shut before jumping. About half jump I decide I should probably open my eyes and grasp a ladder of the opposite fire escape. I climb my way down and meet up with Bruce.

Together we head back to the cave, once there I cough, "I don't think I can make that voice every night." I take the ski mask off and chuck it in the water, "It makes me feel too much like a thug. We got what we wanted though."

"You won't have to worry for long, your cowls will arrive in a couple days." Bruce says and heads over to work on some of his gadgets.

"Yeah." I mutter and walk over to my corner. I grab some of my little electronic 'junk' as Bruce calls it. I start tweaking then get an idea. I work for hours making everything perfect. I finish my tiny project and hold it up to my mouth, "Testing." Instead of my voice it came out as a voice of someone completely different. I sigh, exhausted and set it down. Now all I have to do is put it in my cowl.

I start thinking about what Bruce had said about becoming a symbol. I pull a piece of paper out and start sketching. I work on it for a while until I finish, then write on the corner, Name:? I decide just to rest my eyes for a second once I've finished...

When I wake up there's a blanket wrapped around my shoulders and my hair had been brushed out of my face. I sigh and pull the blanket tighter, getting up to go to sleep.

I pause as I notice that my sketch is different. My question mark was gone and replaced with one word...

Batwoman

**A/N: Ok, I know that this chapter is a bit on the boring side but don't worry, you'll be CRANEing your neck to read the next chapter. It has much more planned :) -Beloviel**


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